Is commitment to meeting times a challenge?
Greetings all. A few quick questions.
Do people ask for a call with you, by phone or Skype and then either
- call much later than planned, or
- change the time/date just on the cusp of the call occurring?
Last week a respected colleague was 20 minutes late for both of the phone calls we arranged at that person’s asking. In both instances the person said ‘this never happens’ and offered up reasons for being late each time it happened. This morning, 10 minutes before another arranged phone meeting from a different colleague was to happen, his email request to move it to tomorrow popped into my in-basket.
Because these instances are happening so close together, I’m wondering if you can help me test a theory.
- Does this happen to you too? Are people calling you later than planned or asking to reschedule meetings last-minute? If yes, are you noticing this happening more often than in the past? Do you foresee tardiness for meetings increasing or decreasing in the future?
- Are you someone who asks to change meeting plans last-minute? If yes, do you notice doing this more often than in the past? Any insights in terms of what might be driving the behaviour? Do you foresee this behaviour changing in the future?
Many people talk about losing control these days as conditions continue to erupt and change. This tiny repeated last-minute-meeting-changing behaviour might show how uncertainty is a part of our day-to-day lives if my theory holds.
Where does innovation and creativity fit into this picture? Creativity involves using new ideas and making new decisions brought about by tapping the imagination and challenging assumptions. What can we assume about meeting times, and how best to manage the expectations of when they will start and stop?
What if, eh?
Creativity comes when we are confronted with change or a situation/conflict or a problem to solve. In today’s world of multiple communication devices available I believe we are creating our own time crunching by engaging more than we have in the past. For example more people are texting than voice calling on the phone and I would suggest it is more likely to text than to call; so we have created a new time consuming activity to our other activities. I guess I would pose the question: does not getting to meetings on time help creativity? Maybe so, remember that Napoleon didn’t read his mail until it was about two months old (or some long time frame, my memory isn’t sure on the exact time) but the point was by waiting to answer the mail; he force others to make decisions because he wasn’t available. His response was if the problem still existed after this long time period it must be something important and it then was on his plate to resolve. So, maybe being late or not making meetings altogether might be a good thing for individual creativity?